This invention relates to a remote pilot, located on the ground in a high fidelity virtual reality simulator, taking control of a civilian or military aircraft such as:
a) Executive (small to medium sized) Aircraft
b) Passenger/Carrier Aircraft
c) Cargo Aircraft
in order to provide relief to the aircraft's pilot(s) or to facilitate a safe landing which minimizes the loss of life and property damage from an aircraft that deviates from its air traffic control approved safe trajectory and/or approved flight plan.
Situations arise where an aircraft is piloted in such a way as to put the public in harms way. This can occur from a rogue pilot(s), terrorist(s), and/or problems aboard the aircraft that renders the flight crew incapable of safely piloting the aircraft (e.g.: sudden decompression). An example of the above was the aircraft hijacking that occurred on Sep. 11, 2001 where two commercial carrier aircraft were steered into the World Trade Center, another commercial carrier aircraft into the Pentagon and a fourth commercial carrier crashed in Pennsylvania, when its passengers attempted to take control away from the hijackers. Under the 9/11 scenario, with SAFELANDER'S remote pilot(s) located on the ground and using ciphered telemetry, the planes would be piloted away from large metropolitan areas and safely landed at airfields that minimizes the loss of life to both the persons aboard the aircraft and those located on the ground. Although SAFELANDER potentially wouldn't save all lives, it would substantially reduce the fatality count. SAFELANDER also acts as an effective deterrent to aircraft hijacking, since it eliminates the hijackers' ability to inflict a large number of ground deaths and/or destroy significant edifices.
A substantial economic benefit of this invention is to reduce the cost of flying by permitting a single pilot aboard Executive Aircraft, Passenger/Carrier Aircraft, Cargo Aircraft and large Military Aircraft. These aircraft traditionally have had two pilots in the flight crew (i.e.: pilot and copilot). With the advent of modern telemetry, communication, high fidelity virtual reality simulation, autopilot and the instrument landing system, an aircraft can be safely piloted with just a single onboard pilot and the use of a remote pilot located in a ground-based high fidelity virtual reality aircraft cockpit simulator.
The remote pilot:
                I. provides relief to the onboard pilot and/or handles emergencies should the aircraft's pilot become disabled;        II. is an experienced licensed pilot who is highly trained in the handling of emergency procedures and landings of the specific type(s) of aircraft;        III. is provided with the ability to communicate in real-time with the air traffic control, manufacturer, security, and air carrier personnel in order to provide the safest conning/guiding and landing of an aircraft;        IV. can concurrently and safely control a plurality of aircraft.        
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,890,079 and 5,974,349 provide the means for the transmittal of flight recorder information to a Central Ground-Based Processing Station. This information in real-time contains the critical operational aircraft data that is mandatory for replicating the flight conditions at a secure high fidelity virtual reality remote pilot ground-based simulator. Also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,890,079 and 5,974,349 establish the mandatory real-time two-way radio frequency (RF) telemetry (aircraft to ground and ground to aircraft) communication capability with Air Traffic Control/Management (ATC/M). Yet the above-cited patents don't have the onboard aircraft electronic interfaces necessary to enable the remote piloting of an aircraft. Nor do they provide a high fidelity virtual reality secure aircraft cockpit simulator necessary for safely remote piloting an operational aircraft in congested airspace.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,674 mixes video data taken from an aircraft with terrain data taken from a database to project a three-dimensional display of the aircraft to a remotely located pilot. This patent only utilizes a small subset of the needed data to safely control a commercial carrier aircraft in a highly congested air space or during taxiing on the ground. The patent also doesn't provide a means where a single remote pilot can concurrently control a plurality of aircraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,598 also deals with the apparatus for controlling an aircraft, particularly remotely controlled aircraft. This transmits some critical flight control data of the aircraft to a remote located pilot who controls the aircraft and has the ability to transmit some critical control data to the aircraft for controlling it. The patent doesn't provide the necessary safeguards to control a carrier aircraft on the ground or in a congested air space. Nor does U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,598 provide for a single remote pilot safely and concurrently controlling a plurality of aircraft.
None of the above cited patents provide the necessary safeguards for the remote control of large commercial and/or military aircraft, which presently utilize two pilots (pilot/copilot), operating in heavily congested civilian air space and at airports. What is needed is a remote pilot capability that provides the safeguards to enhance aviation safety to a level that not only increases the safety of the passengers onboard an aircraft but also enhances the safety of persons on the ground and protects significant edifices from pilot error and/or terrorism.
In conclusion, insofar as the patent applicants are concerned, no other aircraft remote pilot capability formerly developed provides the necessary safeguards and capabilities to allow the dynamic transfer of the piloting function between the onboard pilot(s) and the ground-based remote pilot(s) for the control of Executive (small to medium sized) Aircraft, Passenger/Carrier Aircraft, Cargo Aircraft and large Military Aircraft. SAFELANDER permits aircraft, such as the above, to be operated remotely and safely in highly congested airspace. It also permits these aircraft to be safely piloted by a single onboard pilot should that mode of operation be selected. SAFELANDER substantially reduces the cost of flying and the cost of providing national and aviation security while enhancing aviation safety.